Down 5-0 and 11-4, White Sox battle back but fall short in loss to Mets
One game can't completely capture the vibe of the long major-league season.
For the White Sox, Tuesday night's matchup against the Mets at Citi Field came pretty darn close.
Dig yourself a deep early hole. Try climbing out. Make progress. Fall back in.
In an 11-10 loss to New York, Lucas Giolito got the start for the Sox and was looking to pick up where he left off before the all-star break.
But Giolito, who was 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA over his last seven starts, barely made it out of the first inning.
Like the White Sox, the Mets have been a bust this year. And they scored just 6 runs over their last five games before jumping on Giolito early.
In his first start since July 9, Giolito looked rusty as New York piled up 5 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in the first inning. Two of the hits were home runs - back-to-back solo shots from Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty.
"I thought I clearly didn't have it tonight," Giolito told reporters. "It hurts because the whole team came to play, battled all the way back, we only lost by one run. I came out with a 5-run first inning, that's not exactly setting the tone. I just didn't have a feel and I didn't make adjustment, so I got exposed."
Giolito - a hot name on the trade market with the Aug. 1 deadline nearing - lasted 3⅔ innings and gave up 8 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks. The right-hander's ERA jumped from 3.45 to 3.96 after his shortest outing of the season.
When asked if the long layoff bothered him, Giolito quickly dismissed the notion.
"I'm a professional and I've been doing this for years, so I'm not going to make any excuses," he said. "It was a very, very poor performance and I feel bad because like I said, everyone else came out to play. We had a real chance to win this game if I was just half decent.
"Obviously, a tough loss. It's on me. But I like the way we're playing. Come back tomorrow and get on the right side."
New York was leading 11-4 in the seventh inning before the Sox made a serious climb.
Jake Burger got the rally started with a drive to left field that looked like a grand slam but wound up as a 2-run double.
Yasmani Grandal make it an 11-8 game with a 2-run single and Grandal wound up scoring on a passed ball to cut the Mets' lead to 11-9.
The White Sox made a final push in the ninth inning and made it an 11-10 game on Andrew Benintendi's two-out RBI single.
Tim Anderson came to the plate with runners on second and third, but he flied out to center field to end the game.
Anderson was frustrated by the at-bat, but he went 3-for-5 and has looked much better at the plate coming out of the all-star break.
Signing day:
The Sox signed two draft picks Tuesday, including seventh-rounder George Wolkow.
A Downers North High School product, the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Wolkow hit .363 with 10 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs and 32 RBI last season.